What's on in Brasília, Brazil through the year

Peak crowds — Nosso Natal on the Esplanada, Summer holidays in Brazil

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Nosso Natal on the Esplanada (1 Dec – 4 Jan (usually))

Peak crowds — Carnaval street blocos, Summer holidays in Brazil

• Festival

  Carnaval street blocos

  14–17 FebCarnivalCrowded

  No samba school parades here; the capital's carnival is street blocos such as Suvaco da Asa and Galinho de Brasília, playing frevo and marchinhas in the Plano Piloto. It is a more local affair than the big carnivals on the coast. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Festival

  Via Sacra at Morro da Capelinha

  3 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  On Good Friday a passion play with over a thousand volunteers is staged on a hill in Planaltina, about 40 km from the centre, drawing close to a hundred thousand people. Go early and expect slow roads back. Source ↗

Still on: Carnaval street blocos (14–17 Feb)

Peak crowds — Via Sacra at Morro da Capelinha, Brasília's birthday

• Holiday

  Brasília's birthday

  19–21 Apr · usuallyNational holidayCrowdedClosures

  The city marks its 1960 inauguration on 21 April, a holiday shared with Tiradentes day. Free concerts fill the Esplanada dos Ministérios over the long weekend and the Brasília Marathon runs the same morning. Source ↗

Still on: Via Sacra at Morro da Capelinha (3 Apr)

Busy — Festa do Divino in Planaltina

• Festival

  Festa do Divino in Planaltina

  5 May – 15 Jun · usuallyReligious feastCrowded

  Pentecost festival in Planaltina, the old town that predates Brasilia, listed as DF heritage: rural and street folias ride with the banners and meet in the Encontro das Bandeiras, drawing crowds of well over a hundred thousand. Source ↗

Busy — Festa do Divino in Planaltina, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Ipê trees in flower

  20 Jun – 20 Sep · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The city's street trees flower in the middle of the dry months, yellow first and then pink and white, each colour holding for a week or so before the petals carpet the superquadra pavements.

Still on: Festa do Divino in Planaltina (5 May – 15 Jun (usually))

Busy — July winter break in Brazil, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Dry season and burn-offs

  1 Jul – 30 Sep · usuallySmoke season

  By August the met service is issuing low-humidity warnings most days and grass fires round the Distrito Federal put a haze over the plateau. Nosebleeds, cracked lips and a bucket of water in the bedroom are all normal here. Source ↗

Still on: Ipê trees in flower (20 Jun – 20 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Ipê trees in flower (20 Jun – 20 Sep (usually)), Dry season and burn-offs (1 Jul – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Sete de Setembro, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Sete de Setembro

  7 SepNational holidayCrowdedClosures

  Independence Day is staged here rather than anywhere else: a military parade and a flypast down the monumental axis, the road shut around it, and the ministries closed for the long weekend either side. Source ↗

• Festival

  Festival de Brasília

  11–19 SepFilm festival

  The country's oldest film festival, run out of the Cine Brasília in Asa Sul since 1965 and still the place where an argument about Brazilian cinema is worth sitting through. Sessions are cheap and fill up. Source ↗

Still on: Ipê trees in flower (20 Jun – 20 Sep (usually)), Dry season and burn-offs (1 Jul – 30 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Peak crowds — Nosso Natal on the Esplanada, Summer holidays in Brazil

• Festival

  Nosso Natal on the Esplanada

  1 Dec – 4 Jan · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowded

  The government Christmas village fills the lawns of the Esplanada dos Ministerios with a giant tree, lights, free shows and children's workshops each evening through early January. Source ↗